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A fun signature cocktail is always a welcome treat, especially during the holiday season. This Santa’s hat coconut rum cocktail is an ideal way to get into the festive spirit. The flavour is tart, sweet and fruity all at once, while the shredded coconut adds a contrasting exotic touch to the holiday drink. Serve these Christmas cocktails anytime over the holidays. It might become one of your favorite cocktails for this time of year.
This Santa Claus drink is a classic winter cocktail that’s perfect for holiday parties. It features coconut, cherries, cranberry juice, coconut rum, and more.
Looking for fun Christmas recipes? Also try zuccotto cake, antipasto Christmas trees and this amazing smoked turkey breast recipe.
Santa’s Hat Rum Christmas Cocktail Ingredients
To make this red Christmas cocktail, you will need cranberry juice cocktail (I like the Ocean Spray brand), sweet and sour mix, grenadine, and lemon juice. If you’re using cranberry juice instead of cranberry juice cocktail, you might have to add a little extra grenadine to make up for the lack of sweetness.
In addition, you will need cream of coconut, sweetened coconut flakes and coconut rum for this festive holiday cocktail. A couple of maraschino cherries, although optional, make a cute garnish for the holiday drink. It is the holiday details that make this stand out against the classic cocktails.
Cream of coconut isn’t the same thing as coconut cream, coconut milk or coconut water. It’s a thick type of syrup made of coconut cream, and it’s sweetened. You can find it with cocktail mixers in the liquor store or grocery store.
Grab the sweet and sour mix from the same place. This ingredient is made with citrus juices and, as the name suggests, tastes both sweet and sour.
If you prefer a non-alcoholic version, omit the coconut rum. You can also add a few drops of coconut extract to make up for the flavor.
Holiday cocktails during the winter season are great mocktails with a festive look. Serve these up and everyone will be impressed! And don’t be surprised if they ask for a second (or third!)
This is such a great drink cocktail recipe. Another option would be this festive cranberry margarita. In fact I love them both! Whether for Christmas day, after Christmas dinner or even a happy hour during the festive season, this is the perfect Christmas cocktail! Serve Santa hat drinks at your next holiday party and be prepared for the rave reviews.
How to Make This Red Christmas Drink Recipe
This is a really easy cocktail for Christmas time. Dip your martini glasses one by one in cream of coconut and twist until the whole rim is coated, then press into flaked coconut for the sugared rim. Put a couple of maraschino cherries in the bottom of each glass. The coconut on the rim of a martini glass is the classic Santa hat cocktail look.
Put some ice in a cocktail shaker then add the remaining ingredients and shake well. Divide the mixture between the prepared glasses.
Tweaks and Variations
You can customize this Christmas rum Santa’s hat cocktail however you wish, perhaps changing the ratios of cranberry juice cocktail, sweet and sour mix and grenadine, to get your perfect level of sweetness. Using unsweetened coconut flakes on the rim of the glass can also make it less sweet if that’s what you’re looking for. Malibu Christmas cocktails like this are easy to customize to suit your preference or what you have on hand.
Another idea for this festive cocktail is to use lime juice instead of lemon juice or garnish each one with candy canes (with or without the hook part snapped off) instead of the maraschino cherries. Fresh cranberries are also a great garnish, and would work better than the traditional orange slices, cinnamon stick or star anise.
Festive Red Christmas Cocktail FAQs
Yes, you can make these Christmas cocktails in advance if you want. The mixture will be fine for up to three days. Don’t add the ice until just before shaking and serving. Keep refrigerated until serving.
Martini glasses are ideal for cranberry Christmas cocktail recipes, but you can use another type if you prefer, such as lowball glasses. At a pinch those would work but you’d be losing the Santa’s hat shape, so it’s best to grab some martini glasses if you’re planning to make this fun Christmas cocktail. Choose from traditional martini glasses or stem-free ones.
Santa’s Hat Coconut Rum Cocktail Recipe
Santa’s Hat Coconut Rum Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 Teaspoon cream of coconut , I prefer Coco Reàl Cream of Coconut
- 1 Tablespoon sweetened flaked coconut, such as Baker’s Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut
- 2 maraschino cherries, for garnish (optional)
- ice
- 3- ounces cranberry juice cocktail, such as Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
- 3- ounces coconut rum, such as Malibu Coconut Rum
- 1½- ounces sweet and sour mix, such as Zing Zang Sweet and Sour Mix
- ½- ounce grenadine, I prefer Rose’s Grenadine
- 1/8 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Dip the rim of an 8-ounce martini glass into the cream of coconut, rotating until the entire rim is coated. Press the coated rim into flaked coconut and rotate, again, until covered. Add two maraschino cherries to the bottom of the glass.
- Fill a cocktail shaker about halfway with ice. Add cranberry juice, coconut rum, sweet and sour mix, grenadine, and lemon juice. Shake to combine until the shaker feels ice cold (10 to 20 seconds). Pour over maraschino cherries into rimmed martini glass.
Nutrition
You can’t go wrong with this Santa’s hat coconut rum cocktail. The Santa Claus cocktail really looks like an upside down Santa’s hat or elf’s hat. Also, this is such an easy holiday rum cocktail to prepare, and even easier to drink! This festive drink is perfect to serve at your next Christmas party. The bright red color and coconut rim makes this Christmas rum cocktail a winner. Add this coconut rum Christmas drink to your holiday menu!
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
We made this last night for our Christmas party. We all really loved it and it has made this list of annual holiday party drinks. Yum!
I am going to be making this one for my party!